Graceful
by Izzi-Scarlett
Summary: "Any normal being would die from such a fall. They wouldn't. They are not normal beings." Jack remembers a friend from his past, but did his forgetfulness cause deeper issues? Rated T for reasons and just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this in not my first attempt at FanFiction, although it is my first attempt at a RotG. It is a bit darker then my other ones- eh, It's A LOT darker. Sorry if you feel as though I've gotten Jack all wrong.**

**Also, this was written on my iPad, so there's no grammar check. There's also no indents at new paragraphs or when a new person speaks -_-**

**ANYWAY! ON WITH THE STORY!**

_"Where to now?" I said to a boy who I knew couldn't hear me, he was talking to his friends, "oh, that sounds fun-" he walked through me. I took a breath._

_"It's cool, whatever- not like you knew I was there or anything." _

_I let the wind take me away. Up into the sky, through the clouds. I was surfing on the wind as normal- I had gotten quite good at it, even if I do say so myself. I had had ten years practice by now, or was it eleven? I hit the air with my staff, causing cascades of snow flurries to fall towards the unforgiving ground. Any normal being would die from such a fall. I wouldn't._

_I am __not__ a normal being._

_I might have been, I wouldn't count on it though. The first thing I remember is darkness. It was dark and it was cold. Memory lapses, you could say. _

_I stopped riding the wind and let myself fall. I guess I was kind of like a leaf, spinning gracefully while plummeting back to earth- faster and faster, head first._

_The nearer I got to the floor, the more the adrenaline took over me. Closer, closer and even closer. What if? What if I hit the ground? Nothing. I'd get up a few moments later- not that I'd tried it before. I'd thought of it, sure. I'm not normal, therefore it wouldn't kill me. _

_What if I hit the ground? _

_It might knock some memories back._

_I pulled back right at the last second and slowly lowered my bare feet to the muddy terrain. I shouldn't think like that. It is not healthy._

_I dragged my staff behind me while I trudged through a forest, causing winter to cover the ground. _

_"Is this my life? Is this really what I have to do?" I said in frustration to the glowing orb in the sky. He didn't reply. He never did. He just sat there watching me._

_"What do you want me to do!?" I shouted, "Make snow and ice!? What sort of life is that?"_

_The Moon, I don't like that guy._

_I had got to a town by now. Small, wooden, could easily catch alight- like every other town or village I'd seen before. I started running, moving my staff like a hockey stick in front of me. I was angry; I ran through everyone; I messed up stalls and markets; I froze puddles whilst kids were playing in them. I didn't care. They couldn't see me, I could get away with murder. I wasn't looking where I was going- I didn't have to. I was a ghost, a cold chill in the air, that's all._

_I hit something. I rubbed my head and stood back up. It was a girl, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open._

_"You can see me?" She whispered cautiously._

Jack woke up startled,

"Crap." He mouthed, he shot out of the room North had left him use, "How the hell did I _forget_?" He muttered furiously to himself. Jack crashed around the workshop looking for a snow globe- he was making too much noise, he didn't care. He had to find one.

"No. No. No. No. Where does that old man keep the freaking snow globes?!" He slammed the draws back shut.

"What are you looking for?" A tired voice- well it was the early hours of Christmas morning- said amused, to the winter spirit frantically racing through the empty room.

"The snow globes." He replied, not noticing who the voice belonged to.

"And what do you need one for so badly?" North said, grabbing the boy by the hood of his jacket and placing the desperately needed glass orb in his pale hands.

"To see an old friend." He thanked North and whispered to the globe, "Emotion," and threw it on the workshop floor.

North patted him on the shoulder and Jack stepped through the portal.

A girl stood on the edge of a cliff, her toes slightly over, looking at the waves crashing into the rocks below. She had good balance, she wouldn't fall- not by accident anyway.

"Here." She whispered, "This is the place."

She dangled one foot over the edge.

"Em?" A familiar voice called. She put her foot back on the ledge, "Em, what are you doing?"

She stiffened. That voice, she hadn't heard it in a _long_ time. She placed a hand to her lips, smearing a thick red liquid on her light pink dress front.

"Em, you'll fall if you're not careful."

She turned around, "Long time no see, Frost Features," she laughed. It was not the laugh Jack was used to. This was cold, unwelcome; not the light hearted giggle he had heard many times before.

"Emma, why are you bleeding? What happened?" A lump in the Snow Maker's throat formed at he saw the warm, sticky, red trail forming down her arms.

He looked at her wrists then, "Oh,"

She held a blade, the moonlight glinted off of it; reflecting on her small frame. Sliver trails covered her arms and legs. The one that caught Jack's eye the most though, made him feel even guiltier.

'_Property of Pitch Black_' engraved in a sliver pink on her forearm. He flew forwards and grabbed her arm, his icy fingers traced the cursive writing. There was no way she had done it herself.

"What happened?" He asked again, sternly this time.

She jerked her arm from his grip, "Oh, you left me, remember?" She spat.

"You disappear-" Jack started.

"You forgot about me, didn't you? If you didn't forget you would have found me by now!" A tear rolled over her eyes.

Jack's heart sunk, "I didn't forget!" He shouted, "You know I have these memory lapses!"

"The Guardians talk to you once and you leave your _best_ friend."

"How do you know I was with the... Oh," he looked at the scar, "What did he do to you, Em?"

"Nothing that can be undone. Go away Jack. I don't need you any more." She turned away.

"Em, I-"

"Save it Jack." She dropped the blade off the cliff. She wobbled, feeling ligh-headed- blood loss. She smiled and closed her eyes. At least she'd be at peace now.

It all happened in slow motion for Jack. He saw his best friend fall over the edge, her pink dress flowing gracefully- she was alway graceful. He screamed her name, tears welling in his eyes.

No. He mustn't cry. Guardians of fun do not cry.

He couldn't help it though. He jumped with the wind after her, gaining speed in hope to catch her. He passed her figure finally and waited for her to hit him. She was unconscious before she had started falling.

Jack needed to get her to the North Pole.

A normal being would die from such a fall. They wouldn't.

They are not normal beings.

**Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know what was going on in my head either. I was just passing time.**

**I know, I know, it's horrid- right?**

**Anyway... Reviews are always nice :) *cough* hint *cough* *cough* **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! So here's the next chapter :)**

**SHOUT OUT TO NATURE-GIRL668 :) :)**

**YOU ARE AMAZING!**

Jack was flying frantically back to the Pole, with an unconscious and bleeding girl in his arms.

"Why?" He thought, "Why would she do this? Was it because I wasn't there?"

He looked at her, if it wasn't for the blood stains and shiny trails over her arms, she would almost look innocent. Jack felt like the moon was watching him as he flew, giving him a disapproving look. It was a cold night, even if Jack wasn't making it snow, he held onto the nearly lifeless figure tightly- not want to drop her.

North's workshop slowly came into sight. Jack sped up, even though he was already at full speed. He landed and placed her carefully on the ground. He started to panic; flying round the room looking for something, _anything_ that could help her.

He had no idea what he was doing. He rushed to the globe and twisted the lever, alarming the other guardians.

"What is with all this noise?" He asked irritated, "Some people are trying to sleep."

Jack was by the girl again, her head in his lap, "I- I don't know what to do..." He whispered, "She..."

North walked over to the winter spirit, "Well, we'll have to stop the bleeding, Jack."

Tooth was ordering around her fairies when she saw the lights in the sky. She hadn't seen them since Jack was chosen, over ten years ago. It must be important. She immediately raced to the workshop, followed by a few fairies.

When she arrived the other guardians were already there, tentatively milling around a figure in the middle of the room. None of them looking like they knew what they're doing.

"What's happened...?" She gasped and knelt down beside Jack, who was carefully wrapping a bandage around a newly stitched wound. She didn't need an explanation just yet to know she had to help.

The five guardians soon had the girl patched up, Jack placed her in his bed and went out to the others.

"So, who is this girl then?" Bunnymund asked, leaning on a pole.

Jack looked at the ground sheepishly.

"You don't have to tell us just yet, Jack-" Tooth started, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"No, no," Jack pushed her hand off, "it's okay, I'll speak." The others crowed round, "She was just like me. No one can see her apart from us, I found her about ten years after the Moon told me my name. She was my only were inseparable, Emma and I. Then one day, she disappeared during a snowball fight- I was winning- against some kids we both knew couldn't see us." He said sadly, remembering the past, "I looked for her everywhere. Then you guys throw me in a sack and I forget all about her," his voice stared raising, getting angrier, "I was so close, I swear. I thought I heard her."

Bunnymund rolled his eyes, "What's so special about her?"

Jack glared at him, "I found her by a cliff..." He continued ignoring the Pooka's question, "Pitch got her. I don't know what he's done to her, but I _will_ _make_ him pay. She's the spirit of emotion, Tooth." Jack looked a the fairy, "she can change people's emotion, but she feels the opposite. She gets upset a lot, trying to make people happy. She's had scars before I met her... She doesn't know her centre, her memories are hazy and muddled."

Jack walked over his room and peered through the door looking at the girl, "Can you help her?"

Tooth felt like her heart had broke into a million tiny pieces, looking at how lost and helpless Jack was acting, "Of course I will, giving people their memories is what I do best."

**yeah, yeah, yeah. It's short I know :(**

**im going on holiday on Wednesday and theres no wifi! :o**

**so that means I won't update till next Wednesday/Thursday :(**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well hello there! Long time no see, huh? Yes. Sorry about that. School and concerts and homework :(**

Darkness surrounded her, a thick, black fog of uncertainty. She was walking, barefoot, down a muddy path. Her powder-pink dress torn and stained with dirt. She could feel eyes watching her, following her as she walked. Bony, wooden arms of the leafless trees reached out at her, groping the air around her slim, fragile figure. Emma sped up, starting to run through the tree-shaded path. She tripped over a loose root, her hands scraped on the jagged floor- which had now turned to shards of glass- leaving tiny red drops bobbling on her palms.  
"Why Emma." A silky voice, full of decorum and patronisation said. The words wrapped around her, coaxing her to keep her ears open.  
"Why Emma, haven't you been good this evening? Full of joy and dreams?" The voice grew louder, she knew who's voice it was. She defiantly did not like the owner.  
"We must change that, mustn't we?"  
Her surroundings changed almost instantly. The blackness turned to white, and in the corner of her eye was a frail body. The body was covered in long wounds, most probably from a whip of some sort. Emma remembered this dream, it was so common now. She ran desperately to the body, but the faster she ran, the further away the figure became.  
The body was unclothed, curled into a ball- as if trying to hide from something. In this light the body looked very young, a small boy- innocent, like an angel with his pale skin and sapphire oceans for eyes.  
"Oh," the voice said again, "What have you done now, Emma? What have you done to him?"  
Emma shook her head. No. She hadn't done a thing. Get out of her head.  
"It's all you fault." The voice stroked her eardrums, "It's always your fault, Emma."

Her heart pounded ferociously against her chest, like a cadged bird trying to break free. Emma opened her eyes slowly, registering that it was only a dream- only a nightmare. She was tucked comfortably in soft, crisp, white sheets- this was a luxury she wasn't used to. She panicked and sat bolt up, instantly regretting doing so as her head rang like a bell tower, her brain pulsing on her skull. Her pillows cocooned around her shoulders, it felt like she was sitting on air. A figure was sitting by the side of the bed, he wasn't wounded- he still looked like and angel.  
"Emma?" Said Jack, "You're awake."  
Emma looked at Jack, hatred filled her gaze, "What am I doing here?" She asked cheerfully; she knew being happy would cause him pain.  
Jack looked hurt, "I-I was only..."  
Emma knew what she was doing, yet she carried on- not caring, "Well, Jack?"  
He was on the verge of crying, pools of salt water welling in the oceans of his eyes, "I thought you were... I thought..."  
"Thought what Jack? That I was dead?" Her mood changed drastically, from happy to angry in a flash, "Well news flash, maybe I WANTED to be."  
Jack was taken aback, "Emma, I couldn't have let you die." He had stood up now and was leaning over her, "I couldn't have."  
"Why am I here Jack?" She asked quietly.  
Jack moved away from the bed and stalked over to the window, he leaned on the ledge, "You needed help. What's going on Emma?" He turned round and looked her in the eyes, sapphire met amethyst.  
Emma looked down at the sheets, her mood changing to quiet and closed off.  
"It's fine, don't tell me. Let me check your bandages?"

**reviews are always always always nice :) **


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